Posted: 1/31/16 at 10:25pm
The reviews are starting to come in. The Wrap is Mixed-to-Positive.
http://www.thewrap.com/grease-live-review-fox-musical-was-smooth-as-greased-lightning/
Posted: 1/31/16 at 10:27pm
H'okay sexy. "Hater." ( said w no electricity at all)
Posted: 1/31/16 at 10:27pm
I think Dreamgirls would be nice to see
Posted: 1/31/16 at 10:27pm
AMAZING production. AMAZING direction. AMAZING costumes. AMAZING sets. AMAZING camera work. They didn't dissapoint!
Posted: 1/31/16 at 10:28pm
No staging was altered due to the rain. They put up black tarps over all exterior sets and the audience bleachers so rain or shine, they could still telecast without an issues. The darken skies were clearly visible on certain shots.
Posted: 1/31/16 at 10:28pm
Very Positive from the Associated Press.
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/review-fox-shows-musicals-ambitious-grease-36633295
Posted: 1/31/16 at 10:29pm
Well screw it, let's get Carly a revival in the works. A Tony would look nice on her resume.
Posted: 1/31/16 at 10:30pm
Mixed-to-Positive from USA Today.
Posted: 1/31/16 at 10:32pm
Loved the sets, staging, choreography, camerawork, direction and production values! All first rate! LOVED Julianne Hough! She was a revelation! Did not care for Aaron Tveit as Danny. He acted the part terribly and was completely miscast. With the exception of Hough, I thought the acting was meh all around, but then this group was obviously hired for their singing and dancing abilities, and not their acting. The finale was a complete blast! All in all, I'd have to say that it was by far the best of the live tv musicals and a lot of fun! I give all involved props for pulling it off.
Updated On: 1/31/16 at 10:32 PM
Posted: 1/31/16 at 10:34pm
Just starting watching on the west coast
love the cast and the live audience
summer love a great number
more live musicals on TV!!!!!
Posted: 1/31/16 at 10:37pm
I was out for the evening and only caught the last 30 minutes or so and I must say, this was so well done!! At first I thought it was filmed because it had that look to me. The performances were great and I like the audience element as well. It was not as awkward as the NBC productions at the end of the songs and I especially loved the way they performed the ending. Kudos to FOX for a great production...looking toward to watching the whole thing....
Posted: 1/31/16 at 10:45pm
Julianne Hough was the real "star" for me tonight. Not that the others weren't very good, but she should be a major Broadway star with her triple-threat talents. Shows aren't being written today for singer/dancer/actor leading roles (the way they were for Chita or Gwen back in the day). I hope someone creates a new musical to feature her talents.
Posted: 1/31/16 at 10:51pm
Besty I have to agree with you. Julianne was perfection as Sandy.
Posted: 1/31/16 at 10:57pm
I've watched the first 90 minutes but stopped to watch Downton Abbey; so I'm excited to finish it now. You could tell the sound is live and not lip synched. (Just watch the actor's veins in their neck at times) The vocals in the background may have been recorded, I'm not sure.
All I can say is whatever NBC is planning for next year, after Grease tonight, I think they'll be scrapping whatever they had and starting over. I could not sit through another one of their productions with large marquee monitors being used for scenery, especially when they couldn't match the same color on all the monitors at the same time. I saw better use of electronic/visual scenery at Once Upon A Mattress at the Abrons.
Congrats to the cast and crew and FOX and especially Vanessa Hudgeons.
Posted: 1/31/16 at 11:00pm
Vanessa Hudgens killed it as Rizzo...I can just imagine Adrienne Barbeau and Stockard Channing applauding her performance. She was truly amazing. She embodied that character. I know her dad was looking down at her and beaming with pride. She's a trouper!
Updated On: 1/31/16 at 11:00 PM
Posted: 1/31/16 at 11:12pm
That was fun.
The cast was great, especially Aaron, Vanessa, Carly Rae, Keke, and my fellow Utahn Julianne. I was worried they had cut Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee (Reprise), and was happy to see that they hadn't.
It sounds like some people didn't think Aaron was right for Danny, but I thought he was great, especially matched up with Julianne.
The shout-outs to Salt Lake City also made me smile.
My favorite songs:
* Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee (and its Reprise)
* Freddy, My Love
* Sandy
* Hopelessly Devoted to You
* You're The One That I Want
* There Are Worse Things I Could Do
Posted: 1/31/16 at 11:13pm
The two shows that leapt out at me tonight, watching this, were Dreamgirls and West Side Story. And hire the same technical team! (But find out who knocked the sound out for 20 seconds during the dance contest and murder them.)
Posted: 1/31/16 at 11:15pm
The thing I wonder for NBC though is if it is even possible for them to do a production as huge as Grease, if they keep the production in NY? I'm talking about the different sets and driving between them. Granted, I have only ever been to Kaufman Astoria Studios for a couple of different shows I was an extra for. But, at least that one seemed more compact than what was seen tonight.
Posted: 1/31/16 at 11:17pm
But come on. Sandy Young? I simply cannot abide Mormon pandering.
Posted: 1/31/16 at 11:18pm
best12bars said: "The two shows that leapt out at me tonight, watching this, were Dreamgirls and West Side Story. And hire the same technical team! (But find out who knocked the sound out for 20 seconds during the dance contest and murder them.)
"
I was thinking of West Side Story the other day!
Posted: 1/31/16 at 11:21pm
I thought Aaron was great as Danny. He just looks way too old and a little haggard and/or rugged. He has those heavy creases around his mouth. Sexy, yes, but not on a high-schooler. He's very talented though and handled the part really well.
I warmed up to Vanessa during the show. She just seemed too "Sandy" to me to be playing the bad girl, but when she sang "There Are Worse Things I Could Do," she knocked it out of the park. And from then on to the end, I thought she was great.
I like that they all had their moments to shine. And I loved some of the rewrites, like having Those Magic Changes weave through Danny's attempt to change himself and become a jock. It worked really well.
Still can't get over the technical achievement. I was thinking how in the hell did they handle the playback for We Go Together, taking them from the gym (for You're the One That I Want) to the tram cars to the outdoor carnival with everyone singing and dancing the whole way. The camerawork was astounding.
Posted: 1/31/16 at 11:21pm
Re: NBC, I'd rather they stick with the Broadcast Theater format they've used thus far, but maybe with the addition of a live audience.
Posted: 1/31/16 at 11:22pm
Wow! I just realized that Thomas Kail directed Grease tonight; this guy is certainly going to be the go-to-director from now on. I still have flashbacks of seeing Hamilton on stage and this live tv production of Grease is another "jewel" in his crown...super visual and visionary director.
Posted: 1/31/16 at 11:22pm
I cannot overstate how much I loved this. Even with how much I disliked the three previous musical livecasts (even though they were by NBC, not Fox, obviously), I had high expectations for this with this cast and creative team—and not only were they met, THEY WERE EXCEEDED.
Tveit is a total stud. Vanessa Hudgens is a bona fide talent and demonstrated EXTEME professionalism tonight. Though I was hoping for somebody with more musical theatre creds for Sandy when she got cast, Julianne Hough totally knocked my socks off. The long one-shots... the choreography... the finale, especially... I'm OVER THE MOON!
I am absolutely overjoyed and honestly so PROUD of everybody involved in this production. Stellar work, and exactly how a live musical should be. A+++!!!
Posted: 1/31/16 at 11:26pm
Technically, it was a jaw dropper, but the audience was weirdly used. It was nice to have songs end with applause rather than the thud to black on NBC, but losing the sound of the audience made a lot of the scenes play weirdly. All the corny jokes and meta ha-has were screaming for a laugh track. Blanche needed one. I thought all the acting performances were iffy, but in retrospect this was less about being a musical and more about this being a pageant of nostalgia and and in-jokes and goodwill and melisma. And on all those levels it succeeded.
